After the Infinity Saga ended with Thanos defeated, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is left with the void of the next big bad for the franchise and as the narrative furthers, a new villain is bound to arrive as the story enters into the Multiverse Saga: Kang the Conqueror. As everyone navigates through the new concept of the multiverse, variants are introduced as versions of the characters from other universes. Unfortunately for the upcoming villain, fate seems to be against him and his variants as they are either defeated or dead.
Since the reveal of the Multiverse Saga as the next step of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, played by Jonathan Majors, Kang the Conqueror has been highly anticipated to be the next level villain that the heroes will face. His variants, too, are expected to be strong and villainous considering that the characters has appeared to be so in the comic books. However, the arrival of Kang and his variants in the MCU says otherwise.
First, there is He Who Remains in Loki Season 1 who was introduced as the one who weaves the Sacred Timeline and prevents the branching of the other timelines because according to him, the threat posed by his other variants may be too much to handle. He Who Remains did not even fight and he even let Sylvie kill him off. Second, there's Kang in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania which was imprisoned in the Quantum Realm and was defeated by Ant-Man with his status still unknown whether he's still alive. Lastly, Victor Timely in Loki Season 2 had a lethal intelligence but scrawny and scared to the point that he even had to convince himself to be brave. Timely turned into spaghetti due to radiation levels.
Why is Kang and his variants always killed or defeated in the MCU?
Surely, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has a deeper reason with picking this strategy in the introduction of the next big villain in the franchise. With Jonathan Majors having no MCU projects listed between Loki Season 2 and the 2026 Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, there is still a huge gap in between where this projection of Kang could be addressed. So far, every version of him is either weak or outsmarted which is totally the opposite of what is expected.
A possible reason could be is that the MCU may be using this strategy to help Kang and his variants prove their strength. Usually, the underdog always have a "defeat" story which leads them into a bigger pursuit for strength and victory. Being an underdog could give Kang and his variants a build-up which would make him a bigger threat in the future.
Avengers: The Kang Dynasty is expected to bring the wrath of the titular villain and with various defeats or deaths in the current narrative, this could be another reason why the franchise keeps killing him off: to set the stage for his other variants to step up and bring the darker side of things. Retaliation is a powerful thing and when it happens, who knows how much power could his variants hold with such driving force of having their kind killed?
Avengers: The Kang Dynasty is currently slated for a May 1, 2026 release.
